Engine



"March 17, 1936. A J, MEYER 2,034,410

ENGINE Filed Feb. 27, 1932 2 Sheets-ShamI l Z l .E 20 1 Z! I l l;

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Tac. #237: INVEN TOR.

14,762@ J. Mayen ATTORNEY.

A. J. MEYER March 17,r 1936.

ENGINE Filed Feb. 27, 1932 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 INVENTOR.

ATTORNEY.

Patented Mar. 17, 1936 UNETED STATES PATENT OFFICE tinental Motors Corporation, Detroit, Mich., a corporation of Virginia Application February 27, 1932, Serial No. 595,518

16 Claims.

This invention relates in general to sleeve valve engines and more particularly to the valving means and cooperating cylinder and cylinder head construction.

Heretofore it has been customary to construct engines of the sleeve valve type with cylinder heads having re-entrant portions depending within the cylinders and spaced from the walls thereof to provide a sleeve pocket for accommodating the upper portion of the sleeve valve means. The

re-entrant portion of the cylinder head is arranged to mask the sleeve ports when said sleeve is in its outer zone of travel and to seal the sleeve pocket, said head being sometimes provided with a junk ring o-r other similar device for more effectively sealing the sleeve pocket from the combustion chamber. The above construction has proved very satisfactory but some difficulty has been experienced in accurately positioning the cylinder head so as to concentrically locate and axially align the re-entrant cylinder head portion in the engine cylinder. Furthermore, cylinder heads of this type having re-entrant portions cannot be conveniently manufactured in one piece for a multi-cylinder engine because of the fact that the difficulty of aligning said heads is thereby increased and because the lower face of the head is very difficult to machine if not impossible from a practical standpoint.

In engines of the type employed with aircraft, it is desirable to maintain the engine height at a minimum and as a result of such development work, it was found that some of the excessive height was due primarily to the necessity of providing a pocket of suitable size for accommodating the sleeve valve means.

An o-bject of this invention is to facilitate the economical manufacture of a sleeve valve engine by providing an engine structure orf a character which embodies various parts or structures that can be more readily and relatively more economically produced.

Another object of this invention is to construct an engine of the aforesaid type having generally improved operating characteristics by providing improved valving means.

A further object of this invention is to facilitate the manufacture of engines of the aforesaid type by providing a fiat cylinder head which can be more readily machined and assembled with the engine with a minimum of labor.

The present embodiment of my invention provides a piston or other suitable means which is adapted to cooperate with the sleeve valve means to eiiect a control of o-ne or more of the engine cyclical events. The importance of this feature will be apparent in the following description in which the cooperative relation of the sleeve valve means and supplemental piston control with the at head type Of cylinder head structure is more (Cl. 12S- 75) clearly described. In particular an engine of the single sleeve valvetype as herein illustrated requires a valve operation and control as aforesaid to effect a practical engine construction when employing a cylinder head having a substantially 5 flat under face.

For a more detailed understanding of my invention, reference may be had to the accompanying drawings which illustrate o-ne form which my Y invention may assume, and in which:

Fig. 1 is a vertical sectional View taken transversely through one engine cylinder of a multicylinder engine,

Fig. 2 is a diagrammatic showing of the c0- operating cylinder and sleeve ports and showing the exhaust about to open,

Fig. 3 is a similar diagrammatic view of the cooperating cylinder and sleeve ports and showing the intake about to open,

Fig. 4 is a similar diagrammatic view showing 20.

the exhaust closing.

Fig. 5 is a similar diagrammatic view showing the intake closing,

Fig. 6 is a diagrammatic showing of said cooperating ports illustrating their relative position with respect to the engine piston when said piston has closed or masked the main sleeve exhaust port,

Fig. 7 is a diagrammatic showing of said ports illustrating their relative position when the piston is at top dead center,

Fig. 8 is a general plan view of a multi-cylinder engine,

Fig. 9 is a fragmentary sectional view of a modled form of construction, and Fig. 10 is a fragmentary sectional view of a further modied construction.

In the illustrated embodiment of my invention I have shown my invention as being incorporated in an engine of the single sleeve valve type which in general consists of a cylinder block I0 having a cylinder I I in which a single sleeve valve means I2 is operated, a piston I3 being operatively associated therewith and connected with the crankshaft I4 by means of a suitable 45 connecting rod I5. Any suitable means may be employed for actuating the sleeve valve means, and in connection with the sleeve valve means herein described and illustrated which is adapted for a combined reciprocating and oscillating movement, I have illustrated one satisfactory drive therefor consisting of a wobble shaft I 6 having wobble cranks I'I connected to the sleeve by reason of the link I8 and ball and socket assembly I9-, The above described mechanism im- 55 parts an orbital movement to the sleeve, the curve A shown in Figs. 2 to 7 inclusive representing the path traced by any point on the sleeve dur-ing one complete cycle of the engine.

4'.Ihe cylinder head B is constructed to overlie 60 the cylinder and is preferably secured to the cylinder block by means of bolts or other suitable fastening devices 20. The head is jacketed at 2 I the cooling medium being circulated through the jacket 2'I and the jacket 22 carried by the cylinder block around the cylinder II), suitable passages 2I and 22 being respectively constructed in the cylinder head and cylinder block to connect the jacket portions 2l and 22.

It may be noted that the cylinder jacket 22 which surrounds the cylinder I0 is constructed for surrounding that portion of the sleeve I2 exposed to the combustion chamber so that maximum cooling may be obtained at the time of maximum temperature in the combustion chamber C. The maximum temperature in the combustion chamber occurs substantially during the initial part of the engine power stroke, and also the time of maximum pressure occurs substantially simultaneously with the time of maximum temperature, substantially when the piston I3 is at or near its outermost position of travel. It may be further noted that the piston is arranged to substantially mask the sleeve portion overlying the cylinder ports` 30 and 3| at the time of maximum pressure within the combustion chamber C, to substantially eliminate the tendency of the sleeve to buckle or become distorted when subjected to these maximum pressures. Thus the sleeve is protected against maximum pressures and temperatures, whereby to provide improved engine perfomance.

The under face of the cylinder head B is preferably machined flat and when associated with a multi-cylinder engine, I find that my present construction is of particular importance for a one piece head may be employed without any difficulty being encountered in machining same to fit the associated cylinder block. The cylinder head preferably has no re-entrant portion and thus the upper portion of the sleeve valve I2 is exposed inwardly to the combustion chamber C which is dened by the cooperating cylinder head and piston, whereby the pressure in said combustion chamber tends to expand the sleeve and provide a seal between the sleeve and cylinder. The piston I3 is provided with a substantial frusto-conical portion I3' which may be of any desired height in order to obtain the desired compression ratio, said portion I3 being preferably spaced from the inner surface of the sleeve valve I2 as shown.

In the present illustrated embodiment of the invention, the Cylinder is respectively provided with intake and exhaust ports 30 and 3l, and the sleeve I2 is provided with main intake and exhaust ports 32 and 33 respectively cooperating with the cylinder intake and exhaust ports. Since the upper portion of the valve is not shielded by the head as is customarily done, the port arrangement presented considerable dimculty. In order to accomplish the desired result, I have provided means cooperating with the sleeve valve means for controlling one of the engine cyclical events. The engine intake and exhaust cyclical events are arranged to overlap and loss of the intake fuel mixture is prevented by constructing and arranging the piston so that it will mask the sleeve exhaust port 33 during the initial intake stroke. In the present embodiment the cylinder exhaust ports are arranged to be located in a horizontal plane above the plane of the intake ports in order to obtain the correct valving of the engine.

In Fig. 2 the exhaust port 3l is about to open and the piston is at or near bottom dead center. As the piston moves outwardly of the cylinder, the effective top of the piston, as indicated by the dotted line 35, thus completely covers the sleeve exhaust port prior to the time the sleeve and cylinder exhaust ports are relatively moved out of registration (see Fig. 6). However, exhaust can still take place because the auxiliary exhaust port 33 is now in communication with the cylinder exhaust port, but obviously the exhaust takes place more slowly because of the relatively small area of the auxiliary exhaust port 33. When the piston reaches top dead center (see Fig. 7) the main port 33 is still covered by the piston but the auxiliary port 33 is only partially masked, there being still sucient opening to permit the exhausting of the small amount of exhaust gas still remaining in the combustion chamber. It will be thus seen that I have provided a structure in which the engine exhaust port means are successively opened, the one last to open being opened before the one first to open is closed.

The intake opens while the piston is at or near top dead center and preferably opens at a time when the piston has just passed top dead center (see Fig. 3). As shown in Fig. 3 the top of the piston lies substantially ush with the lower edge of the sleeve intake port and with the top edge of the cylinder intake port. Since the piston is travelling downwardly or inwardly of the cylinder relatively faster than the sleeve, the top face of the piston soon lies below the lower opening edge of the sleeve intake port and thus preferably does not influence the engine intake in the present instance. It will be noted in Fig. 4 illustrating exhaust closing that the sleeve exhaust valve is still masked by the piston and the auxiliary port 33' has moved out of communication with the cylinder exhaust port. At intake closing (see Fig. 5) the piston is at or near bottom dead center. Compression and expansion now takes place and the sleeve is again moved into the position where exhaust opens as illustrated in Fig. 2. The sleeve is so constructed and arranged that the top of the sleeve does not uncover the cylinder ports as it moves about its orbital path.

Since the auxiliary port 33' is open to the cylinder exhaust port 3l during at least a portion of the initial intake stroke, the last remaining exhaust gases are thus effectively scavenged.

The effective top of the piston to which I refer in the preceding paragraphs is designated 50 in Fig. l as the shoulder or corner intermediate the frusto-conical projecting portion I3' and the main body of the piston I3.

The cylinder ports 30 and 3I are located in proximity to the cylinder outer end and the combustion chamber, dened by the cylinder head and the piston in its outermost position of travel, is conned substantially in the vicinity of the cylinder outer end and to that portion thereof outwardly of the cylinder ports. The length of the cylinder outwardly of said cylinder ports is substantially equal to the distance traveled by said sleeve axially of the cylinder for providing a Zone for sleeve movement in which a suicient fluid seal may be maintained between the sleeve port lower or inner edge and said cylinder port. This necessitates a construction in which the sleeve is projected outwardly of the cylinder beyond the cylinder outer end into the annular recess carried by the cylinder head structure during a portion of the engine cycle, and in which the sleeve valve means is withdrawn from said recess during other portions of the engine cycle. The above construction is one in which proper porting may be readily developed, the piston operation cooperating .with this particular construction to provide an improved control of the engine cyclical events. It will be readily apparent that this construction is one which facilitates the production of sleeve valve engines and which further provides an improved engine performance.

In Fig. 9 I have illustrated a modified form of construction showing an engine of the general type as described above. In this construction the cylinder head B is provided with an annular recess 66 for receiving the upper portion of the sleeve valve means. It may be noted however, that the sleeve is still exposed to the combustion chamber as is the case with the sleeve shown in Fig. 1 due to the fact that the recess is so constructed as to have considerable clearance with respect to the sleeve. With this construction it is still possible to machine the entire under face of the head in one operation.

It will be noted that the recesses 60 and 6U as shown in Figs. 9 and 10 form a pocket extending annularly and concentrically with respect to the associated cylinder for accommodating the outer portion of the sleeve valve i2 which is adapted to partially project outwardly of the cylinder during a portion of the sleeve movement, the extreme outward sleeve position being shown by dotted lines I2' in said gures. The outer diameter of said annular recess 59 is greater than the cylinder bore li, and of sumcient diameter to provide an appreciable clearance 52 externally of the sleeve and is further constructed to provide a clearance 63 internally of the sleeve to thereby expose the outer end of the sleeve to the combustion chamber C.

A spark plug D is carried by the cylinder head and is preferably located radially inwardly of the annular recess 69. In the present illustration a single spark plug is employed that is centrally positioned with respect to the cylinder, but I do not necessarily limit myself to any particular spark plug location insofar as the present invention is concerned. The head portion E4 intermediate the spark plug and recess 6B is preferably arranged flush with the flat under face of the head beyond the groove or recess 60 to facilitate machining of the cylinder head under face.

In Fig. l0, the cylinder head structure E is provided with a portion 55 arranged to depend within the cylinder Il but is sufficiently spaced from the inner wall surface of the sleeve valve to provide a clearance 63. This modied construction as shown in Fig. 1U provides an annular recess SEB somewhat similar in construction to the annular recess 60 shown in Fig, 9, said recess 69' further providing clearance 62 externally of the sleeve.

In an engine employing a flat head or a modified head construction as shown in Fig. l0 in which the upper or outer portion of the sleeve is not masked or sealed from the combustion chamber, and in particular a single sleeve valve engine, it is plain to be seen that the various features herein illustrated and described all cooperate to provide a practical engine construction in which a minimum engine height is obtained with the result that the engine weight is held to a minimum.

It may be noted that the engine described above and illustrated in the accompanying drawings may be adapted for use with a radial cylinder engine if so desired and that various types of sleeve drives may be employed. Obviously modiiications in the particular type of valve construction and in the timing may be made while still retaining the principal feature of my invention.

It will be further apparent to those skilled in the art to which my invention pertains that various modifications and changes may be made thereinv without departing from the spirit of my invention or from the scope of the appended claims.

What I claim as my invention is:

1. In an engine of the sleeve valve type having a cylinder ported for intake and exhaust, sleeve valve means associated therewith and provided with a plurality of exhaust ports cooperating with said cylinder exhaust port means, said sleeve exhaust ports constructed and arranged whereby said sleeve ports are successively moved into registration with said cooperating cylinder exhaust port means, and means cooperating with said sleeve valve means for masking one of said sleeve exhaust ports to control engine exhaust.

2. In an engine of the sleeve valve type having a cylinder ported for intake and exhaust, sleeve valve means associated therewith and provided with a plurality of exhaust ports cooperating with said cylinder exhaust port means, said sleeve exhaust ports constructed and arranged whereby said sleeve ports are successively moved into registration with said cooperating cylinder exhaust port means, and means cooperating with said sleeve valve means for masking said sleeve exhaustport rst to register with said cylinder exhaust port means at a predetermined time during the exhaust cycle to control the engine exhaust.

3. In an engine of the sleeve valve type having a cylinder ported for intake and exhaust, sleeve valve means associated therewith and provided with a plurality of exhaust ports cooperating with said cylinder exhaust port means, said sleeve exhaust ports constructed and arranged whereby said sleeve ports are successively moved into registration with said cooperating cylinder exhaust port means, and means cooperating with said sleeve valve means for masking said sleeve exhaust port rst to register with said cylinder exhaust port meansduring the latter portion of the exhaust cycle to control engine exhaust.`

4. In an engine of the sleeve valve type having a cylinder ported for intake and exhaust, said intake and exhaust ports relatively spaced axially of the cylinder, sleeve valve means ported for intake and exhaust and associated therewith for controlling said ports whereby to control the cyclical events of the engine. said sleeve valve means having a plurality of exhaust ports adapted for operative communication with a common cylinder exhaust port, and a piston operable in cooperation with said sleeve valve means for masking one of said sleeve exhaust ports during the latter part of the exhaust cycle to control the engine exhaust.

5. In an engine of the sleeve valve type having a cylinder ported for intake and exhaust, sleeve valve means associated therewith and provided with a plurality of main intake and exhaust ports respectively cooperating with the cylinder intake and exhaust ports to control engine intake and exhaust, and means cooperating with said sleeve valve means to mask said main exhaust port for controlling engine exhaust, said sleeve valve means provided with an auxiliary exhaust port cooperating with said cylinder exhaust port subsequent to the masking of said main sleeve exhaust port for scavenging the combustion chamber.

6. In an engine of the sleeve valve type having a cylinder ported for intake and exhaust, sleeve valve means associated therewith and provided with a plurality of main intake and exhaust ports respectively cooperating with the cylinder intake and exhaust ports to control engine intake and exhaust, and means cooperating with said sleeve valve means to mask said main exhaust port for controlling engine exhaust, said sleeve valve means provided with an auxiliary exhaust port located intermediate the main exhaust port and the outer` end of said sleeve valve means, said auxiliary port cooperating with said cylinder exhaust port subsequent to the masking of said main sleeve exhaust port for scavenging the combustion chamber.

7. In an engine of the sleeve valve type having a cylinder ported for intake and exhaust, sleeve valve means associated therewith and provided with intake and exhaust ports respectively cooperating with the cylinder intake and exhaust ports, said sleeve intake port adapted for movement into registration with the cylinder intake port While said cylinder and sleeve exhaust ports are still in registration, and means cooperating with said sleeve valve means for masking said sleeve exhaust port during the initial intake cycle.

8. In an engine of the sleeve valve type having a cylinder ported for intake and exhaust, sleeve valve means associated therewith and provided With intake and exhaust ports respectively cooperating with the cylinder intake and exhaust ports, said sleeve intake port adapted for movement into registration with the cylinder intake `port while said cylinder andl sleeve exhaust ports are still in registration, and means cooperating with said sleeve valve means for masking said sleeve exhaust port during the initial intake cycle, said sleeve valve means having an auxiliary exhaust port of relatively small area adapted for cooperative registration with said cylinder exhaust port during said initial intake cycle for scavenging the cylinder of exhaust gases.

9. In an engine of the sleeve valve type having a cylinder ported for intake and exhaust, sleeve valve means associated therewith and provided with intake and exhaust ports respectively cooperating with the cylinder intake and exhaust ports, said sleeve intake port adapted for movement into registration with the cylinder intake port While said cylinder and sleeve exhaust ports are still in registration, and a piston cooperating with said sleeve valve means for masking said sleeve exhaust port during the initial intake cycle.

10. In an engine of the sleeve valve type having a cylinder ported for intake and exhaust, sleeve valve means associated therewith for controlling said cylinder intake and exhaust port means and including a plurality of sleeve exhaust ports, said sleeve valve means being operable to successively open said cylinder exhaust port means, and means cooperating with said sleeve valve means for masking one of said sleeve exhaust ports whereby to control engine exhaust.

11. In an engine of the sleeve valve type having a cylinder ported for intake and exhaust, a single sleeve valve of the combined movement type for controlling said cylinder intake and exhaust port means and including a plurality of sleeve exhaust ports, said sleeve valve means being operable to successively open said cylinder exhaust port means', and means cooperating with said sleeve valve means for masking one of Said sleeve exhaust ports whereby to control engine exhaust.

l2. In an engine of the sleeve valve type having a cylinder ported for intake and exhaust, sleeve valve means associated therewith for controlling said cylinder intake and exhaust port means and including a plurality of Sleeve exhaust ports, said sleeve valve means being operable to successively open said cylinder exhaust port means, a cylinder head structure having a substantially flat under face for closing the outer end of said cylinder, and a piston structure operable within the cylinder and cooperating with said sleeve valve means for masking one of said sleeve exhaust ports whereby to control engine exhaust, said piston and head cooperating to provide a combustion chamber, and the outer portion of said sleeve valve means being exposed to the combustion chamber.

13. In an engine of the sleeve valve type having a cylinder ported for intake and exhaust, a single sleeve valve of the combined movement type having a plurality of exhaust port controlling means cooperating with said cylinder exhaust port means, said sleeve valve operable to successively move said exhaust port controlling means in cooperating registration with said cylinder exhaust port means, and means operable within the cylinder to mask one of said exhaust port controlling means whereby to control engine exhaust.

14. In an engine of the sleeve valve type having a cylinder ported for intake and exhaust, a single sleeve valve of the combined movement type having a plurality of exhaust port controlling means cooperating with said cylinder exhaust port means, said sleeve valve operable to successively move said exhaust port controlling means in cooperating registration with said cylinder exhaust port means, and means operable within the cylinder to mask one of said exhaust port controlling means during the latter part of the exhaust cycle.

' single sleeve valve of the combined movement type having a plurality of exhaust port controlling means cooperating with said cylinder exhaust port means, said sleeve valve operable to successively move said exhaust port controlling means in cooperating registration with the cylinder exhaust port means, and means operable within the cylinder to mask the exhaust port controlling means first to move in cooperating relation with the exhaust port means during the latter'part of the exhaust cycle whereby to reduce the exhaust port area for scavenging the cylinder during said latter portion of the exhaust cycle.

16. In an engine of the sleeve valve type having a cylinder ported for intake and exhaust, a single sleeve valve of the combined movement type having a plurality of exhaust port controlling means cooperating with said cylinder exhaust port means, said sleeve valve operable to successively move said exhaust port controlling means in cooperating registration with said cylinder exhaust port means, a cylinder head structure for closing the outer open end of the cylinder and having a substantially flat under face, and a piston operable within the cylinder to mask one of said exhaust port controlling means whereby to control engine exhaust.

ANDRE J, MEYER. 

